Epoxide resin compositions containing a polycarboxylic acid anhydride and a substituted ammonium phenate



United States Patent EPOE RESIN CONiPOSlTl0N lCON'llAlNlNG A PLYARBOXYLIC ACID BRIDE AND A SUBSTITUTED AMMONEUM PHENATE Graham Winfield, Qarnbridge, and Brian William Cunningham Ashcroft, Newnham, Cambridge, England, assignors to Cibfi Limited, Basel, Switzerland, a Swiss company No Drawing. Filed Feb. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 87,085

v3: Claims. (Cl. 260-47) This invention relates to the hardening of epoxide resins and more particularly to hardenable epoxide resin compositions containing new accelerators for the hardening thereof.

Polycarboxylic anhydrides, notably phthalic anhydride, maleic anhydride, an adduct of maleic anhydride and methyl cyclopentadiene, hexahydrophthalic anhydride, pyromellitic dianhydride, dodecenylsuccinic anhydride, dichloromaleic anhydride and chlorendic anhydride (hexachloroendomethylene-tetrahydrophthali-c anhydride), are used as hardening agents for epoxide resins. Mixtures of epoxide resins and such anhydrides can be hardened to tough, infusible, chemically resistant solids, but to effect this conversion it is necessary to maintain the mixture at a high temperature for a considerable time. Catalytic amounts of tertiary amines, for example benzyldimethylamine or tris(dimethylaminornethyl)phenol, or oarboxylic acid salts of tertiary amines, for example the 2-ethyl-hexoic acid salt of tris(dimethylaminomethyl) phenol, are often added to such mixtures as accelerators and in this capacity bring about a reduction in the hardening time. However, the addition of these accelerators, generally also entails an undesirable reduction of the pot life of the hardenable mixtures.

It has now been discovered that a far more substantial reduction in the hardening time or an advantageous increase in the pot-life to curing time ratio can be obtained if, instead of tertiary amines, certain substituted ammonium phenate accelerators are incorporated in the hardenable mixtures.

According to the present invention there is provided a hardenable composition comprising at least one epoxide compound, having an epoxy equivalency greater than 1, at least one polycarboxylic acid anhydride and as accelerator a substituted ammonium phenate corresponding to the general Formula I:

i a 2 Ra R R; n (I) wherein R represents, when n is 1, a hydrogen or halogen atom, a nitro, hydroxy, alkyl or :alkoxy group, a grouping of the formula or, when n is 2 or a higher integer, R represents an aliphatic radical having 12 free valencies; R R R and R each represent a hydrogen or halogen atom, a nitro, hydroxy, alkyl or alkoxy group or a grouping of the formula Re R1 or any two of the radicals R R R and R together represent a fused benzene ring; R R7 and R each represent an alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, or aralkyl group, which con- 3,284,407 Patented Nov. '8, 1966 ice may be prepared by heating together a phenol of the general Formula II i" t HO g R1 1 15 R4 11 I]: with a tertiary amine of the general Formula III R1 R N Ra (III) or a quaternary ammonium hydroxide of the general Formula IV a [RT 'N'I|'RQ]OH 3&8 (IV) wherein the, various symbols R areas previously defined.

The preferred phenols of general Formula H which may be employed for the production of the accelerators for the hardenable compositions of the invention are phenol itself, 0-, m-, p-cresol, xylenols, a-naphthol, fl-naphthol, o-, m-, p-nitrophenol, o-, m-, p-chlorophenol, guaiacol, resorcinol, pyrocatec'hol, bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)methane and bisphenol A [bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)dimethyl-methane].

The preferred tertiary amines and quaternary ammonium hydroxide of the general Formulae III and IV which may be employed for the production of the accelerators are trimethylamine, triethylamine, tripropylamine, tributylamine, benzyldimethylamine, triamylamine, benzyldiethylamine, triethanolamine, 2-diethy1aminoethanol and tetramethylammonium hydroxide.

Fillers, diluents, pigments, plasticisers and other modifiers e.g. active diluents such as cresyl glycide may be incorporated in the compositions of the invention if desired. Owing to the usual methods of preparation of the epoxide compounds and the fact that they are ordinarily mixtures of compounds having somewhat different molecular weights and contain some compounds wherein the terminal epoxy groups are in hydrated form, the epoxy equivalency of polyepoxy compounds is not necessarily an integer of at least 2, but in all cases it is a value greater than 1.0.

Epoxide compounds which may be employed in the compositions of this invention are for example, epoxidized diolefines, dienes or cyclic dienes, such as butadiene dioxide,

1,2, 5,6-diepoxy-hexane and 1,2, :4,5-diepoxy-cyclohexane;

vinyl cyclohexene dioxide,

dicyclopentadiene dioxide,

epoxidized diolefinic unsaturated carboxylic acid esters,

such as methyl 9,10: 12,13-diepoxy-stearate;

epoxidized polybutadienes;

the dimethyl ester of 6,7: 10,1l-diepoxy hexadecane- 1,16-dicarboxylic acid;

3 4 and epoxidized compounds containing two cyclohexenyl hydroquinone,

radicals such as 1,4-dihydroxynaphthalene, diethyleneglycol bis-(3,4-epoxy-cyclohexane carboxylate) l,S-dihydroxynaphthalene,

and phenol-formaldehyde condensation products, 3,4-epoxy-6-methyl-cyclohexylmethyl-3,4-epoxy-6- bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-methane,

methylcyclohexane carboxylate. bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)methyl-phenylmethane,

methane,

Other e oxide com ound wh' h ma b u ed a for p p S m y e S re b1s-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-tolyl-methane,

example, basic polyepoxide compounds obtained by the I reaction of a primary or secondary aliphatic aromatic 4f4'dlhydroxydlphenyl:

monamine or diamine, such as aniline or 4,4'-di-(mono- 10 Y F YP 9 Yl P methylamino)diphenylmethane, with epichlorohydrin and 3 especlally p y )-p p ne. Spesubsequent alkaline treatment; and polyglycidyl esters clfic Such Polyglycidyl ethef$ are ethyleneglycol diglycidyl obtainable by the reaction of dior poly-basic carboxylic ether, l'esorcillol diglycidyl ether and diglycidyl ethefs acids with epichlorohydrin or dichlorohydrin in the preswhich correspond to the average formula ence of an alkali. Such polyesters may be derived from aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, such as oxalic acid, succinic CHz-CHCHz(-O -OOH2GHOHCH2)z-OXOCHz-OH-CHg acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, and are preferably derived from aromatic dicarboxylic acids, such as phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, 2,6-naphthylene-dicarboxylic acid, diphenyl-o,o'-dicarboxylic acid, and ethyleneglycol bis-(paracarboxyphenyl) ether. Specific tlonal E Such polyglycidyl esters are f example diglycidyl Especlally suitable epoxide resins whlch are llqllld at pate, diglycidyl phthalate and diglycidyl esters which room temperature for p those Obtamed om in which X represents an aromatic hydrocarbin radical, and Z represents a small whole number or a small fraccorrespond to the average formula 4,4-dihydroxydiphenyl-dimethylmethane, which have an CHzGHCHz-(OOOXOOOCHr-CHOH-CH2).OOC-XOOO'OH2CE-7CH2 o 0 in which X represent an aromatic hydrocarbon radical, epoxide content of about 3 .8 to 5 .88 epoxide equivalents such as a phenyl group, and Z represents a small whole per kilogram. Such epoxlde resins correspond, for exnumber or a small fractional number. ample, to the average formula CH3 (1H8 orn-on-oH,- o-C -b-oomor1on-cm- .0OoOo-onz-onom l I O CH3 CH3 0 Further examples of epoxide compounds which may in which Z represents a small whole number or small be used in carrying out this invention are the polyglycidyl fractional number, for example between 0 and 2. ethers obtainable by the interaction of a dihydric or In the g eXamples vflhlch W111 111115- polyhydric alcohol or a diphenol or polyphenol with epi- 40 irate the lnventlon, the Parts glvefl are y Weight. chlorohydrin or related substances for example glycerol Example 1 dichlorohydrln, under alkal ne cond1t1ons, or alternatively Varying quantities of substituted ammonium Phenates 1n the presence of an acidic catalyst w1th subsequent were added to mixtures comprising 100 parts of an alkaline treatment These compounds may be denved epoxide resin, prepared by the interaction of epichlorofrom glycols: Such as hydrin and bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-dimethylmethane (Bisphenol A) under alkaline conditions, having an epoxide th l ly ol, content of 5.0 equivalents per kilogram and *77 parts of diethylene-glycol, hexahydrophthalic anhydride. After warming and stir- -i h l w l, ring to ensure that the mixtures were homogeneous, their propyleneglycol-1,2, hardenmg time at 90 C as measured pr0pyleneglycol-1,3, The A.S."l.M. heat distortion temperatures of the buty1eneg1yc01 1,4, hardened resins were measured as a means of determining pentanblidiol when hardenmg was complete and the minimum times hexane l 6 dio1 required for complete hardening are recorded in the folheXane 24 .5 lowing table. For purposes of comparison, curing times g y under identical conditions, but in the absence of the accelerator of the invention and in the presence of a quantity of a fast conventional accelerator, i.e. tris(diand are Preferably deflved from dlphenols polyphenols, methylaminomethyl)phenol, are also shown. The quansuch as tities of the new accelerators and the conventional tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol incorporated are such that resorcinol, an approximately equal amount of amine nitrogen is pyrocatechol, added.

TABLE I Tris(dimethyl- Benzyldimethylammonium Accelerator None aminolmetliybphenate Triamylammonium phenate p eno Parts of accelerator per hunn 1 4 3 4.

dred parts of resin. Hardening time at C Lolnger than 3 6 hrs 88 min 76 min 220 min 204 min.

ays. A.S.T.M. heat distortion 117 11 ll? 1m 104.

temperature C 0.).

Example 2 Mixtures were formed comprising 100 parts of an epoxide resin, prepared by the interaction of epichlorohydrin and Bisphenol A under alkaline conditions and having an wherein R represents an aliphatic radical having 11 free valencies, R is a member selected from the class consisting of a hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, hydroxy group, alkyl group, alkoxy group and a group of the epoxide content of 5.0 equivalents per kilogram, 77 5 formula parts of hexahydrophthalic anhydride and 4 parts of accelerator. The pot life, which may be defined as the usable R5 life of the composition, was measured at 50 C. for each mixture together with the hardening time at 90 C. Hardening was adjudged complete as soon as the heat dis- R1 0 tortion temperature attained its optimum value.

The pot lives and minimum hardening times of examples of the new accelerators are listed in Tabe II in com- R and R are selected from the group consisting of hyparison with the pot lives and hardening times of the drogen, hydroxy, alkyl, alkoxy, a group of the formula known tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol and tri(2-ethylhexoate) of tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol. 4

Table II demonstrates that the ratio pot life/ curing time is in general significantly higher for the new ac- O .N+ celerators than for the conventional accelerators. 6

All substituted ammonium phenates used here were prepared by mixing the quantities shown in the table of phenol and amine or quaternary ammonium compound and together each of R and R form the residue of fused and heating the mixture of 70 C. for 1 hour. benzene ring, R R and R each represents a member TABLE II Phenol Amine Form of adduct Pot liie at Curing time at Ratio pot-life,

0. (hrs) 90 C. curing time Tris(dilnethylaminomethyl)phenol Viscous liquid..- 3. 5 1 hr. 6 min 3. 2 Tri(2-ethy1hexoate) o1 tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol Liquid r. 10. 5 2 hrs. 21min. 4. 5

Phenol (1 mole) Triarnylamine (1 mole) Liquid 27. 5 3 hrs. 24 min. 8.1 p-Cresol (1 mole) do Mobile liquid 26. 5 3 hrs 8. 8 cz-Naphtol (1 mole) do Dark solid. 28. 5 3 hrs 6 min 9. 2 Phenol (1 mole). Benzyldiethylamine (1 mole) Liquid 23 2 hrs. 42 min 8. 5 pCresol (1 mole) d M bile liquid 25. 5 2 hrs. 54 min 8. 8 Phenol (1 mole) Liquid 8. 5 1 hr. 16 min 6. 8 p-Nitrophenol (1 mole) Yellow liquid 12 1 hr. 44 min... 6. 9 p-Chlorophenol (1 mole) Liquid 9.5 p-Cresol (1 mole) Mobile 1iquid 9 a-Naphtol (1 mole) Liquid 10. 5 Resorcinol (1 mole) do G Bisphenol A (1 mole) d0 Viscous liquid. 10 8.0 Phenol (1 mole). 2-diethylaminoetheno1 (1 mole) Mobile liquid 14 1 hr. 28 min 9. 6 Phenol (1 mole) Ttztramiit?ylammoniumhydroxide White solid 77. 5 1 hr. 15 min 6. 0

1 mo e The compositions of this inventiin may be used, for example, as casting, coating, dipping or laminating compositions, as adhesives, impregnating agents or as resins in the manufacture of tools and patterns.

What is claimed is:

I. A hardenable composition comprising (1) a 1,2- epoxy compound having a 1,2-epoxy equivalency greater than one and having more than one epoxy group per molecule, (2) as hardening agent a polycarboxylic acid anhydride and (3) as hardening accelerator benzyldimethylammonium phenate.

2. A hardenable composition comprising (1) a 1,2- epoxy compound having a 1,2-epoxy equivalency greater than one and having more than one epoxy group per molecule, (2) as hardening agent a polycarboxylic acid anhydride and (3) as hardening accelerator triamylammonium phenate.

3. A hardenable composition comprising (1) a 1,2- epoxy compound having a 1,2-epoxy equivalency greater than one and having more than one epoxy group per molecule, (2) as hardening agent a polycarboxylic acid anhydride and (3) as hardening accelerator a substituted ammonium phenate corresponding to the formula References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,185 2/1959 Sowa -260567.5 2,891,026 6/1959 Wasserman 26047 2,908,664 10/1959 Belanger et al. 26047 2,947,726 8/ 1960 Belanger 260-47 3,037,026 .5/ 1962 Erner et a1 2602 OTHER REFERENCES Schechter et al.: Industrial and Engineering Chem., vol. 48, No. 1, January 1956, pages 86-93.

Grant Hackhs Chemical Dictionary 3rd ed. Mc- Graw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1944, page 310 relied on.

Skeist, Epoxy Resins, page 29, Reinhold Publishing Corp, Inc., 1958.

WILLIAM H. SHORT, Primary Examiner.

PHILIP E. MANGAN, A. L. LIBERMAN, T. D.

KERWIN, Assistant Examiners. 

3. A HARDENABLE COMPOSITION COMPRISING (1) A 1,2EPOXY COMPOUND HAVING A 1,2-EPOXY EQUIVALENCY GREATER THAN ONE AND HAVING MORE THAN ONE EPOXY GROUP PER MOLECULE, (2) AS HARDENING AGENT A POLYCARBOXYLIC ACID ANHYDRIDE AND (3) AS HARDENING ACCELERATOR A SUBSTITUTED AMMONIUM PHENATE CORRESPONDING TO THE FORMULA ((R4-N(+)(-R5)(-R6)-R7) -O-((R1-)(P-1),R2,R3-1,4WHEREIN R REPRESENTS AN ALIPHATIC RADICAL HAVING N FREE VALENCIES, R1 IS A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF A HYDROGEN ATOM, HALOGEN ATOM, NITRO GROUP, HYDROXY GROUP, ALKYL GROUP, ALKOXY GROUP AND A GROUP OF THE FORMULA -O-...N(+)(-R4)(-R5)(-R6)-R7 R2 AND R3 ARE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HYDROGEN, HYDROXY, ALKYL, ALKOXY, A GROUP OF THE FORMULA -O-...N(+)(-R4)(-R5)(-R6)-R7 PHENYLENE)N-(R)(2-P) AND TOGETHER EACH OF R2 AND R3 FORM THE RESIDUE OF FUSED BENZENE RING, R4, R5 AND R6 EACH REPRESENTS A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF AN ALKYL GROUP, HYDROXYALKYL GROUP AND ARALKYL GROUP; R7 IS A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF A HYDROGEN ATOM, ALKYL GROUP, HYDROXYALKYL GROUP AND ARALKYL GROUP, N IS AN INTEGER OF AT LEAST 1, P IS AN INTEGER OF AT LEAST 1 AND AT MOST 2, WITH THE PROVISO THAT THE PRODUCT OF N TIMES P IS AT LEAST
 2. 